Farm-gate.



No. 886,383. PATENTED MAY 5, 1908. W. NQMARK.

FARM GATE.

APPLmATIo'N HLED 23.15, 1907.

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A .Tifo/NVE ys UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

WILLIS NELSON MARK, OF GLOVERDALE, INDIANA.

FARM-GATE.

Application filed February 15, 1907.

To all whom Lt may concern:

Be it known that I, IiLLrs NELSON MARK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cloverdale, in the county of Putnam and State of Indiana,have invented a new and useful Farm-Gate, of which the following is aspecification. y

This invention relates to that type of gates which can be unlatched,opened and closed on either side by persons riding or driving withoutdescending from horse or vehicle. The gate may also be readily opened bypersons on foot as they approach the gate or after they have reached it.

Among the objects of the invention, beside that of enabling persons toopen and close the gate while riding or driving, are means forpreventing the gate from sagging or dropping to the ground at its freeend, thereby mterfering with the operation of the gate both with res ectto opening and closing the same and for atching the gate when closed.These and other objects of the invention, will be more fully describedin the attached speciiication and pointed out specifically in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a farmgate shown partly open with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is adetail view, partly in section, of the upper hinge on which the gate ishung.

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the lower hinge.

Fig. 4 is an inside view of the post to which the latch kee ers areattached. rFig. 5 is a cross sectiona view of the upper rail of thegate, on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters indicate the same parts in the severalfigures.

The letter A indicates a fence provided with a gate opening B on oneside of which is a post C to which the gate D is hinged, the opening Bbeing guarded on the other side by the post E to which the latch keepersare attached.

F and G are posts on opposite sides of the fence A in line with thehinge post C against which the gate I) strikes when opened to its fullwidth, and held in contact therewith by suitable hooks, or otherfastening means, until released by the latch operating device to bedescribed hereinafter.

The post C, to which the hinges 1, 2 are attached, is preferably made intwo arts, 3, 4,

Y Ffirmly secured together. Throug the part Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented May 5, 1908 Serial No. 357,557.

3 is made a mortise 5 for the upper hinge 1 and a similar mortise 6 forthe lower hinge 2.

Reinforcing bands 9 and 1() of sheet metal embrace the part 3 of thepost C opposite the mortises 5 and 6 to coact with the hinges forraising and lowering the swinging end of the gate. This is accomplishedby causing the outer members 13 and 14 of the hinges to be adjustableinto and out ofthe mortises 5 and 6. The member 13 is provided with aseries of cross notches 15 on its upper side and an equal number ofsimilar notches 17 on its lower side. Between the band 9 and the post Cis a sliding plate 16 adapted to engage one of. the notches 15 whenpushed down. The front end of the gate is raised or lowered by raisingthe 1plate 16, disenga ing the notch 17 in the inge member 13 om theplate 9, then moving said hinge member into or out of the mortise 5until the gate is raised to the correct height, whereupon a notch 17 maybe once more en a ed with the band 9 and the plate 16 pushe clown into anotch/15. If desired the lower hinge may be adjusted to correct the setof the gate, but in this case a pin 19 is arranged to slide between theband 10 and the post C into one ofa series of perforations 18 extendingvertically through the hinge member 14.

The gate D, may be any one of the forms now in use, the invention havingno reference per se to the gate, but for the sake of illustration oneconstruction has been shown, wherein will be found a series of parallelrails 23, horizontally disposed, bolted or otherwise secured to verticalbars 24 at the front and rear ends of the gate. A diagonal brace 25 isalso secured to the horizontal rails 23 on each side of the gate to stayit and increase its rigidity. Vertical bars 26 further connect the rails23 on each side of the gate near its center, eXtendin T from thediagonal brace 25 to the top and bottomof the gate. Near the top andbottom of the gate are two horizonta rails 27, 28 pivoted to the centralbrace or vertical bars 26 by bolts 29, 30, respectively. These railsproject beyond the bars 24 at the front of the gate and serve as latchesto fasten the gate when closed. The rear ends of the rails 27 28 areheavier than the forward ends for the purpose of keeping the forwardends in raised position for engagement with their respective kee erswhen the gate is closed. Links31 whici may be cords or wires, connectthe rear ends of the rails 27, 28, so that when one rail is raised atits rear end by the gate 4operating means for the purpose of unlatchingthe gate before it can be opened, both rails will be sure to o erate.

Embracing the vertica bars 24 at the front of the gate midway of theirheight is a reinforcing strip 36 through which passes, in a horizontaldirection between two of the rails 23, a screw 37, the head of which ison the outside of the gate. Threaded on the screw is a nut 38 havinglateral projections to which are attached connecting rods, wires orcords 39, passing rearwardly to the upper hinge member 2l and securedthereto. Cn turning the screw 37 in the proper direction, the nut 38will be drawn up on said screw, tightening "the connections 39, whichcauses the front end of the gate to be elevated. The reverse movement ofthe screw lowers the front of the gate. By this means, it is readilyseen how the gate is adjusted in a slight degree as to height, and toits proper relation with the latch keepers on the ost E. Journaledvertically in a through gearing 40, attached to the post C at its rearnear the top and a step bearing 4l near the ground, is a shaft 42extending some distance above the post C where it turns rearwardly at aright angle to form an arm 43 on which is pivoted a lever 44 perforatedat its outer end45 and" carrying an adjustable weight 46 upon its innerend. Two cords, rope or other iiexible connections, are attached to theperforated end 45 of the lever 44 and, passing under the arm 43 of theshaft 42 through a loop 49, ex-

tend in opposite directions to posts H and l planted in the groundbeyond the posts F and A bearing 50 on the upper end of each post H andI carries a pulley-51 over which the flexible connections 47, 48 pass,the extreme ends of said connections having attached thereto weights 52,53, sufficiently heavy to keep the connections extended withoutoperating the gate mechanism. Above each pulley 5l is pivoted a finger54 lying parallel with the flexible connections, each finger having aneye 55 at its end through which said flexible connections pass and bywhich they are guided to the pulleys 5 l.

Above the gate post C is a horizontal arm 56 enlarged at one end throughwhich an opening 57 is made lfor the passage of the shaft 42. A pin 58,or a bolt, if preferred, connects the arm 56 to the shaft 42, loosely,so that the arm has a slightly vertical movement with respect to theshaft. Cn the end of the arm 56 which overlies the gate D is pivoted ayoke 59, the fingers 60 of which project downwardly upon opposite sidesof the top rail 23 of the gate and are provided with rollers 6l whichbear against said rail. The lower ends of said fingers 60 are connectedbeneath the rail by a plate 62. The opposite or shorter end of the arm56 has attached thereto a downwardly extending link 63 provided with aseries of holes, in any one of which may be pivoted a lever 64 having anelongated slot through its inner end for the passage of the verticalshaft 42, while its outer endis connected by cords, wires or rods 65with the lever 44 on the weighted side of its fulcrum. A series of holes66 in the lever 44 permits the adjustment of the rods 65 to change theleverage.

APivoted on a vertical pin 67 projecting upwardly from the top of thegate post C is a latch operating lever 68 having a slotted opening inits outer end through which passes the vertical shaft 42, while itsinner end is attached to the upper latch rail 27 through the medium of aflexible connection 69, here shown as a short chain. The vertical pivotpin 67 passes freely through a hole in the lever 68y so that it mayswing without difficulty in both a vertical and horizontal direction.

Secured to the post E in position to engage the latch rails 27, 28 ofthe gate l) are two keepers 7 0 and 7l, the upper one of which, 70, isplaced to engage the latch 27, while the latter, 71, holds the latch 28.

The operation of the gate is as follows Assuming that the gateis closed,a person approaching it in either direction on horseback, in a carriage,or on foot, and desiring to open the gate, grasps the flexibleconnection 47 or 48, on the side of the gate on which the person happensto be, where it hangs vdown beside the post H or l, and draws itdownward. The first result will be to tilt the lever 44, raising itsweighted end and, through the cords, wires or rods 65, cause the lever64 to depress the outer end of the lever 68. This will cause the innerend of lever 68 to rise and, through the flexible connection 69, rockthe latch bars 27, 28, depressing their forward ends. The said bars, beit remembered, are caused to move together because of the connectinglinks 31 extending from one to the other. By the time the outer end ofthe lever 44 completes its movement and rests on the arm 43 extendingfrom the vertical shaft 42, the latch rails 27 28 will have been loweredsufficiently to pass beneath the keepers 70 and 71. Further pulling onthe flexible connection 47 or 48 will cause the shaft 42 to turn and,through the connection of the arm 56 and yoke 59 with the gate D, thelatter will be swung away from the person operating the flexibleconnection until the gate strikes one of the posts F or G, raising thelatch 78 thereon which hooks over the latch bar 27 and holds the gate inopen position. j

After aassing through the gate and reaching the exible connection on theotherside, by pulling down this connection, the latch rails 27 and 28will be operated as before, disengaging the former from the latch 78 andswinging the gate closed. Just before the gate closes, the flexibleconnections will be released to permit the latch rails 27, 28 to resumetheir normal positions and engage the keepers or dogs 70 and 7l on thepost E.

lVhat is claimed is l. A swinging gate having a pivoted latch railextending longitudinally thereof and projecting beyond each end of thegate, a gate post, a lever pivoted to said gate post and arranged toswing` in horizontal and vertical planes, the inner end of said leverflexibly connected to the rear projecting end of said latch rail, akeeper for engaging the opposite ends of the latch rail, and means foropera-ting said lever to disengage the latch rail from its keeper.

2. Combined with a swinging gate, a gate post to which said gate ishinged, a vertical shaft pivoted on said ost, an arm pivotally connectedto said shaft and extending horizontally above said gate and flexiblyattached thereto, an arm projecting rearwardly at the top of said shaft,and means connected to said arm and extending beyond the gate on eachside'for turning said shaft and swinging the gate in either direction.

A swinging gate, a pivoted latch rail thereon, and rearwardly projectinghinge members, combined with a gate post provided with coacting hingemembers and a shaft vertically pivoted thereto, a horizontal arm pivotedto said shaft and flexibly connected to said gate, a latch bar operatinglever pivoted to said gate post, a second lever pivoted to saidhorizontal arm and adapted to operate said latch bar operating lever, arearward extending arm on the upper end of said shaft, a lever pivotedthereto, a link extending between said lever and the lever pivoted tosaid horizontal arm, and flexible cords attached to the lever mounted onsaid rearwardly extending arm and carried to each side of the gate postand suitably supported, whereby on pulling either of saidy cords thegate is first unlatched and then thrown open if the gate be shut orclosed if the gate be open.

4. A swinging gate, a gate post to which the gate is hinged, a shaftournaled in vertical position on said gate post, a horizontal armpivoted to said shaft and extending over said gate, and a yoketrunnioned to the end of said horizontal arm and straddling the top railof said gate.

5. A swinging gate, a gate post to which said gate is hinged, hinges forsaid gate the outer member of each hinge adapted to be movedlongitudinally for raising or lowering the front end of said gate, andmeans on the front end of said gate for' sliding the inner member of theupper hinge longitudinally.

6. A swinging gate, a gate post to which said gate is hinged, the innermember of the upper hinge adapted to slide on the gate, a horizontalscrew bolt at the front of the gate adapted to be turned, a nonrotatablenut thereon and connections between said nut and said inner hingemember.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aifixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIS kELSON MARK. l/Vitnesses:

A. R. YORK, C. B. OCONNELL.

